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Don’t be the only guy in the office on Tuesday morning that didn’t see the College Football Playoff national championship game between Alabama and Clemson — especially when ESPN’s Megacast returns for its third year.
In addition to its traditional game telecast, ESPN will air 14 alternate productions — including some new ones featuring prominent SEC personalities — across its multimedia empire during the title bout between the Crimson Tide and Tigers.
Here’s a look at all your programming options, beginning at 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 11 on your televisions, radios and handheld devices.
ESPN/ESPN Deportes: The Game – Most important of all, ESPN will broadcast the game live with analyst Kirk Herbstreit joining play-by-play man Chris Fowler in the booth. Heather Cox will be report from the Clemson sideline while Tom Rinaldi patrols Alabama’s side. The telecast also will bring in experts Dave Cutaia (rules) and Dr. Jerry Punch (medical). Over the airwaves, Mike Tirico and Todd Blackledge will call the game on ESPN Radio, with Holly Rowe on the Alabama sidelines across from Joe Schad covering Clemson. The game also will be broadcast throughout the nation in Spanish on ESPN Deportes and called by Lalo Varela, Pablo Viruega, Bernardo Osuna, and Carlos Nava.
ESPN2: Film Room – Jim McElwain knows a thing or two about Alabama, having lost to the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship Game. The Florida head coach and other guest experts join ESPN analysts Brian Griese and Chris Spielman in Bristol to bring real-time, in-depth analysis using multiple camera angles, clicker technology and telestration.
ESPNEWS: ESPN Voices – Want to know how Teddy Atlas is enjoying the game as it happens? Well, ESPN has you covered. Multiple personalities from the network — including Michelle Beadle, Jay Bilas, Taylor Twellman and Marcellus Wiley — will share their thoughts as they watch the title contest from a homey, living-room set in their Los Angeles headquarters.
ESPNU: Homer Telecast – They’re giving it the ole college try over on ESPNU with a new format pitting two former Alabama and Clemson greats in the booth for nothing that remotely resembles unbiased reporting and analysis. Which it the idea, of course, as two-time national champion Barrett Jones of Alabama lore and Tajh Boyd of Clemson square off with the headsets on as equally partisan guests filter in and out throughout the game.
SEC Network: Finebaum Film Room – If you don’t have picture-in-picture, get it before kickoff, especially when Paul Finebaum turns to the phones during his Finebaum Film Room. Joining Finebaum in a studio near University of Phoenix Stadium are SEC Network analysts Greg McElroy and Booger McFarland. But the best contributor joining the panel has to be Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema. Please, please go to the phones when Bielema is there. Look for #FinebaumFilmRoom to be lively on Twitter.
ESPN Classic and ESPN3: Sounds of the Game – If things get a bit loud over on the SEC Network, tune into ESPN Classic and ESPN3 to watch the game without any talking heads. Just you and myriad microphones strategically placed throughout University of Phoenix Stadium. The idea is to replicate the in-game experience of sitting in a folding plastic seat in University of Phoenix Stadium, replete with public address announcer, referee calls and halftime band performances. The only difference is that if someone accidentally spills nachos on you, the culprit was likely yourself.
ESPN Goal Line: Command Center – This one is for the hardcore fan. The ESPN Goal Line’s Command Center uses a live, split screen stream as isolated cameras fix on head coach Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney. The broadcast is set to the ESPN Radio broadcast called by Tirico and Blackledge and features enhanced statistics and real time drive charts.
ESPN3 (espn.go.com/watchespn)
ESPN3 has a host of features online to bring you inside facets of the game otherwise foreign to the average fan.
Mock Replay Booth – SEC replay communicator Ben Oldham, ACC replay official Ralph Pickett and other rules experts take you under the hood to show you what the officials are seeing in real time as they review each play with their replay booth experience.
Pylon Cam – Watch the game from the view of cameras affixed to the field’s eight end zone pylons. Action between the 24 cameras is determined by ball field position and includes a replay option.
Home Town Radio – Yearning for the sounds of home? Learfield Sports brings you customized home radio broadcasts of Alabama (Eli Gold, Phil Savage and Chris Stewart) and Clemson (Don Munson, Rodney Williams and Patrick Sapp). The telecast features full-time, isolated shots of Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney, as well as a few of the top players.
Data Center – How many numbers and stats can your brain crunch all at once? Test it at ESPN3’s Data Center, which is a smorgasbord of real-time drive charts, analytics and social media reactions, to name just a smattering of the features.
Spider Cam – Ever wonder how a football never seems to hit the camera that dangles precariously above the field? Here’s your chance to find out how close to the action the camera comes with ESPN3’s Spider Camera. Watch the game from behind the offense and see how the game unfolds for a quarterback.
Taco Bell Student Section – Your friends go to the game and leave you home? Check out what you’re missing from the stands as camera train on students and mascots, as well as bands and cheerleaders. If you’re a fan of “Sad Fans,” then this is a real-time chance to get your fill of depressed fans — or happy fans, if you’re a glass-half-full type of personality.
Chris Wuensch is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers South Carolina and Tennessee.
